Dannon drives shelf engagement via Lego Movie-themed SMS sweepstakes

Dannon partnered with Warner Brothers to leverage SMS for the first time with a campaign that targets Hispanic families and promotes a new line of products as well as "The Lego Movie."

The yogurt brand wanted to spread awareness of its new Danimals Greek Yogurt products, so it created a text-to-enter campaign that gives consumers the chance to win a VIP tour of Warner Bros. Studio, tickets to see The Lego Movie and autographed movie posters. Consumers can enter the contest by texting DANNON to 89532.

Dannon launched Danimals Greek Yogurt and that was our main purpose of this promotion was to try awareness for our new yogurt made specifically for kids, said Freddy Mino, shopper marketing manager at Dannon, Manhattan Beach, CA.

[Mobiles] an integral part of the campaign, he said. We know a lot of insular purchases are made at the shelf, so we wanted a campaign that was engaging consumers at the shelf, so the text-to-win component lets shoppers interact at the shelf and enter to win at the shelf.

With Danimals Greek Yogurt, it is geared towards kids, so the Lego Movie was a great fit for reaching that demographic. This is a promotion that was geared towards Hispanics, and its overindexed with mobile devices and text messages, so by enabling them to enter to win movie tickets we were able to convert in all of those metrics in terms of engaging with them on a mobile device, providing value and we know that all of our properties are engaged with Hispanics.

The program is being promoted in southern California grocery stores via in-store signage and shelf displays. Dannon also took advantage of a radio and media buy as well as space in circular ads.

The in-store promotion

All of the promotion material explains how consumers can text in to win the prizes.

Once consumers text the short code, they will also receive a link to download a custom film-themed wallpaper for their phone or computer background.

Four consumers will receive the grand prize of a family VIP tour of Warner Brothers studio, four tickets to see the Lego Movie and a poster of the movie signed by one of the cast members. Additionally, fifteen consumers will receive a signed poster.

The mobile wallpaper

Text-to-winAccording to Mr. Mino, this is the first time that Dannon is leveraging SMS for a campaign. While Dannon does not plan on asking consumers who enter the contest to opt-in to a listserv, Mr. Mino expects Dannon to leverage SMS for future campaigns.

Once consumers are used to the SMS contest, they will be more comfortable entering future contests, per Mr. Mino.

Mr. Mino also believes that SMS is heavily used in the Hispanic demographic, which Dannon is specifically targeting.

We like the simplicity of engaging consumers on a mobile via SMS," Mr. Mino said. "Its a clean and easy way to have our shoppers enter the sweepstakes, and it allows for very simple communication."

Shopping is complex, so we didnt want to add any more complexity with enter to win through paper, he said. We know that Hispanics overindex with mobile devices so this was a good way to streamline.

If we can get shoppers trained in texting to win we can involve this in a bigger platform. The goal is how do we provide value to our shoppers and consumers on an everyday basis. The SMS allows it to be a simple message and moving forward we can use this platform for promotional ways to win.

Final TakeRebecca Borison is editorial assistant on Mobile Marketer, New York

Rebecca Borison is editorial assistant on Mobile Marketer. Reach her at rebecca@mobilemarketer.com.